The Pew Forum on Religion and Pubic Life recently reported: Large numbers of Americans know little about the world’s major religions, including their own.  But here is the kicker for Catholics: Nearly half of all Catholics surveyed did not know their church teaches that the bread and wine in Communion actually become the body and blood of Christ. That’s 50%.  And it’s a failing grade.

Long we have known about the dumbing down of Catholic education.  But these statistics indicate that half of us lack knowledge of the very source and summit of our Christian lives—the Eucharist.  If we don’t understand the Eucharist, we don’t understand the most vital part of our faith!  Without this knowledge is it any wonder that in recent years Catholics have left the church droves, or that those who have left Catholicism outnumber those who have joined the Catholic Church by nearly a four-to-one margin?

Protestants may have mastered fellowship.  Evangelicals may be whooping it up with dancing, singing and having a good ‘ol time.  But fellowship and fun can’t hold a candle to the Eucharist once we understand Who is waiting to comfort us in this Sacred Host.  St Bernadette Soubirous said: The Eucharist bathes the tormented soul in light and love.

If our Eucharistic Lord is the source and summit of our Christian lives, then He must be the source and summit of Catholic education itself from which grace flows to preachers, teachers and all Catholics.  That’s why it’s important to embrace a Eucharistic Catholic education.

A Eucharistic Catholic education points us towards the Eucharist, and includes devotions to the Blessed Sacrament and authentic Catholic teachings on it.  These steps can guide us there:

1. Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction: Blessed Mother Teresa said: When you look at the crucifix you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now. On a regular basis, Catholic students can be brought before our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament and exposed to His Eucharistic love. Students can be taught to go to our Lord to intercede for their own intentions and those of the world.  As part of Catholic education, students can be taught to journal on a scripture verse in the Eucharistic presence, taught to listen to His voice there, and taught to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy there as well.

The rich tradition of Benediction directs us towards the majesty of our Lord in the Eucharist.  Benediction prayers reveal the Truth about our Eucharistic Lord, and we need to learn them.  Where Benediction has been lost, it must be reclaimed as vital to Catholic education.  If the Tabernacle is not in the center of the church, perhaps it can be moved there.  We need to see our Lord as the center of our worship.

2. Honoring liturgical norms: What we believe about the Eucharist impacts how we worship at Mass.  And how we worship impacts not just what we believe but what others believe too! We each become educators of the faith simply by the example we set at Mass.  If we dabble in non-approved creativity and liturgical abuse, we distort the meaning of Eucharist for ourselves and others. But when we respect liturgical norms we elevate the Eucharist’s meaning—and lift it up.  Authentically sacred music always points us towards Christ’s Eucharistic love at Mass, never towards people as though being entertained. Sacred music needs to be taught.

Catholics also need to be taught about the blessings of frequent Mass attendance—for herein lay the remedy for our ills.  St. Therese of Lisieux said Receive Communion …very often…there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. We need education at Mass and in classes on why sacred silence is honored in church.  We need to learn humility before the sacred host:  Who are we to be so close to Him?… Christ gives Himself to us totally, with His Body, His Blood, His Soul and His Divinity…. We speak to Him intimately as one does to a father, as one does to love itself.  And all this is true.  It is no fantasy… Let us try to become more humble.  For only a truly humble faith will allow us to see things from a supernatural point of view.  (St. Josemaria Escriva)

3. Monthly confession is needed for all, including those newly educated in our faith. Confession properly disposes our hearts to receive grace from our Lord in the Eucharist.  This truth must be taught.  Would we attend a wedding banquet with mud on our feet and dirt on our hands?  Yet, spiritually speaking, that’s the trap we often fall into often because we’re not reminded enough how confession cleanses our souls and disposes us to Eucharistic grace.  We need this grace, and need to be taught about sin—particularly the seven capital ones.

4. The Rosary: Our Lady brought Christ into the world.  Through the Rosary, she also brings the Truth of the Eucharist into our hearts.  St. Padre Pio said that the Rosary is the weapon against evil.   It defends against heretical teachings, and protects Eucharistic truths from being snuffed out.  Catholics deserve lessons on Our Lady of Fatima’s messages to the Fatima children, and should be taught the meaning of First Saturday Masses.  Learning Fatima Prayers will help us understand the Eucharist:  Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee my God, I love thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

5. Biographies of Saints: Adding actual biographical books and movies of the saints to lessons will help students to connect in depth to how that saint loved the Eucharist.  We need inspiration from these Godly role models. There are excellent biographies of the saints for young children, and excellent movies too.  Catholic high school students can grow in understanding of the Eucharist through movies and books like St. Maria Goretti, Saint Therese of Leuseuix,  St. Don Bosco, and St. Joan of Arc.  High School, college and RCIA students can learn much about the Eucharist from St. Faustina’s Diary. The saints were interesting people who loved our Eucharistic Lord.  Care needs to taken that materials on the saints reveal that love, and are as interesting as the saints themselves.

6. Studying Church Documents and Memorizing Scripture:

To develop spiritual life skills, we need to be taught how to directly research questions on the Eucharist from both the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We need education on the rich Eucharistic truths found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and papal encyclicals.  As a Confirmation requirement, students can be taught how to use the encyclicals as references—including Humanae Vitae and the  Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia

When Christ taught about the Truth of the Eucharist in John 6:51-60, some said: This saying is hard: who can accept it? Some disciples left Him.  He continued to teach Truth anyway.  Catholic education programs must teach Eucharistic Truths even if some leave.   We may need to grow stronger in Truth before we can grow larger in size again.  That’s because: The Eucharist and the cross are stumbling blocks.  It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division.  (CCC 1336).   If Eucharistic Truths seem to have vaporized where we live, there are a plethora of teaching tools to help us.

Memorizing scripture is important.  Students need to memorize scripture verses particularly on the Eucharist.  Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.  (John 6:51)

7. Embracing Purity and Modesty: Why does modesty matter when learning about the Eucharist? At the risk of being stoned, sawed in two and put to death at sword’s point (Heb. 12:37), I will state why.   When our Lady of Fatima said many fashions will arise that will offend our Lord she was not referring to frills on the end of a skirt.  She was referring to immodest clothing and telling us it is an offense to God and thus sin.

When we Catholics, who are children of Light, receive Communion dressed in attire like that worn by ladies of the night, we cause scandal in church.  We set a bad example for others, including young children.  Immodesty profanes our Lord in the Eucharist.  We are often so blithe about our immodest dress that we clearly haven’t a clue immodesty is wrong.  But ignorance won’t make immodesty right.  The most basic teachings on purity and modesty are in the Catechism (CCC 2521-2527) to be studied.  These truths need to be taught as fundamental to a Eucharistic education.

Relying on “Religion” books to communicate Eucharistic Truths is like chopping wood with a plastic knife.  The tool is woefully inadequate.  Catholic education must draw its depth of meaning from our Eucharistic Lord.  With our focus on Him, we will more easily unite (CCC 1396), and some internal divisions within the church will naturally subside.  We Catholics will likely find that the “greener” pastures other faiths sometimes seem to offer, may start seeming just a tad bit dry and brown.  Christ’s rich Eucharistic love is the gift meant to sustain us on earth, until we reach our final home in heaven.  Once that love is found, it becomes a love that’s hard to leave.

But another nice lady appeared out of nowhere also asking if I was okay and insisting we had to call the police.  She lobbied on my behalf.  She defended me.  She rallied for me.  The woman who hit me was saying I should be allowed to simply walk home, as that is what I said I wanted to do.  With kindness, compassion and dignity my defender stood her ground, held her head high, pointed her finger straight at me and spoke a heartfelt: “But she is only a child!”

What was communicated in that statement was that it was unreasonable to expect me to know how to handle myself in this situation, how to call the police or take the lady’s name, address and phone number and make sure that the bike was repaired or replaced by this person, nice though she was, who hit me.  This second nice lady made sure I wrote this information down, and firmly directed me: tell your parents as soon as you get home.  As a result, my busted bike was replaced and I got a shiny new one at the Schwinn shop in town. I lacked the wisdom to obtain this on my behalf; I lacked the experience, and, as it turns out, I lacked the fully-developed brain.

Recent studies in brain research are showing that aging brains are likely wiser brains.  According to Lynn Hasher, psychology professor at the University of Toronto, older adults are “suddenly better problem solvers.  They can transfer the information they’ve soaked up from one situation to another…  A broad attention span may enable older adults to ultimately know more about a situation and the indirect message of what’s going on than their younger peers…  We believe that this characteristic may play a significant role in why we think of older people as wiser.”

While older brains may be wiser, studies on the teenage brain show it to be impulsive and not fully developed in the areas of reasoning and judgment.  This is why young people need protection by older, wiser folks from making foolish decisions, which can have disastrous consequences.  It’s why children need protection from impure temptations, immodest dance and dress, alcohol use, drugs and most especially… from abortions.

One problem with pro-abortion folks wanting to give the abortion “choice” to children is that they want to give this “choice” to brains ill-equipped to “choose” with wisdom.  To give a child this “choice” is to give a big decision to an unwise brain.  Consequently, as they age and grow in wisdom, multitudes of girls will eventually grow to regret their abortion decision, and grieve for the child they “chose” to abort.

What is wisdom?   Wisdom starts with God, and helps guide our actions in a way that pleases Him.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 9:10 tells us.  Wisdom is what teaches us to live with virtue.  Scripture says that wisdom teaches “moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude…” (Wis 8:7).  Wisdom doesn’t fail us.  It is an unfailing treasure. (Wis. 7:14)  Wisdom reflects God’s power.  It is a spotless mirror of the power of God (Wis. 7:26) .

Just as people can grow in wisdom, so too can cultures.  A wise culture practices moderation and prudence.  Wise cultures avoid exposing children to morally dangerous situations.  They shield children from provocative images, sex “education” which lures them into promiscuity, and immodest dress and dance.

The wise culture protects children from pornography.  To do otherwise is to expose their still unwise brains to more than they can reasonably handle.  It is to thrust children into a stormy sea, before they’ve learned to swim.  It’s a sea where many of them are drowning or have already drowned.  It’s a thievery of sorts.  America’s children are routinely robbed of the God-given right to be children.

Children need wise guidance to do what is right and good, and avoid sin.  That’s why they need parents.  Sin, dressed in its fancy garb, can appear especially tempting to the young.  But the wise man knows the truth, as the book of Wisdom warns, that ultimately a man is punished by the very things through which he sins (Wis. 12:16).

America must rid sin from its schools.  Parents and political leaders must stop Planned Parenthood — a company with a vested financial interest in promoting promiscuity — from entering schools to indoctrinate vulnerable children with still unwise brains  into sexual activity.  Planned Parenthood has damaged children long enough, and now needs to go.  And teachings on the Ten Commandments should return.

If children can’t be taught in schools that stealing, lying, cursing, coveting, adultery, and ignoring God are wrong, then there should be no surprise when America itself grows into a stealing, lying, cursing, covetous and adulterous country of heathens.   America’s children are America’s future.  If America is to protect and defend its future, she must first understand the wisdom in protecting and defending her children.  For this, she needs Godly leaders at her helm.

We need leaders who will lobby for children, who will defend laws which protect all children—both those in the world, and those in the womb.  We need wise leaders who will stand firm, like my defender did when my bike was hit, reminding all of us that they are only children!

Children are not the only ones with unwise brains.  Political leaders who shun God can develop unwise brains as well — a sort of spiritual imbecility.  This type of unwise brain embraces arrogance and pride over virtue and humility. With no moral map to guide them, leaders with unwise brains may enact unjust laws.  They may make big decisions which pull us away from God, rather than draw us nearer to Him.  When leaders with unwise brains make big decisions for teens with unwise brains, we have the blind leading the blind, and both will likely fall into a pit. (Matthew 5:14)

What are we to do?  We must hate what is evil, hold on to what is good… be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord… rejoice in hope, endure in affliction and persevere in prayer (Matt. 12:9-12). We must pray that we and our children will be blessed with wisdom and with a purity not just of heart, mind, soul and body but also a purity of faith. We must pray for our current leaders and beg God to bless us with the wise and Godly leaders for whom we so long.  We must pray the Rosary, and ask Our Lady to help us.

If America is to thrive in the future, America’s children must thrive in the present.  If America’s children are to thrive in the present, America must again become a morally safe and stable country.  This country will only become a morally safe and stable one when we elect Godly leaders capable of guiding us to a harbor of such safety and stability.   It’s true that God has never left America.  But it will take prudent and Godly leaders, with wise brains, to bring America back to God.

What is sinphobia?  Sinphobia is a fear.  It’s not a fear of sinning—for most surely we have no fear of that!  Rather sinphobia is the fear of speaking of sin as sin.  Sinphobics are so prevalent in our culture today, that it would be no stretch at all to call us a sinphobic society.

Who cares about sinphobia anyway?  Why not say instead: well I know what I think sin is, but if those others over there want to go ahead sinning, and saying it’s something good, and they think that’s okay, then I am not offended at all. The problem with this thinking is that sin is not about what offends me.  Sin is what offends God!  If we love God, then shouldn’t we be offended by what offends Him?

Furthermore, when sins are left unchecked by society, they multiply, and quicker than a lion tamer’s whip can crack, our sins and our brother’s sins are affecting all of us.  Sin never occurs in a vacuum.  Its effect is a rippling one.  Like a pebble tossed onto a smooth pond, sin’s impact moves outward from the individual to society at large, affecting us all.

Sinphobic societies are dangerous places to live.  If one can no longer refer to sin as sin, then we shall soon stop speaking of sin at all.  If we can no longer speak about sin, then we cannot anymore preach or teach about sin either.  And with no one to preach or teach about sin, how then can we ever learn the truth about sin?  It would seem that no place on earth exists anymore where the truth about sin might be spoken.  When the truths cannot be spoken, we soon find ourselves swimming in a cesspool of lies.  The lies can be spiritually deadly, and guide us away from truth and towards a mentality of political correctness.

Sinphobia impacts how we vote.  And this is where the devilish monster of sinphobia rears its most grotesque head. Cultures who cannot speak of sin, who believe there is no sin, typically elect leaders who believe there is no sin.  And Heaven help politicians who call a sin a sin in a sinphobic society—as a complete head-to-toe tar and feathering most likely awaits them!

Elected leaders who believe there is no sin can enact unjust laws—like abortion and euthanasia—with reckless disregard of sin, and of God’s moral laws.  The pattern becomes somewhat of a downward spiral for us all, a spiral in which our own sinphobic tendencies take us even further away from God through those we elect, and the unjust laws they proceed to enact.   Sin creates a proclivity to sin… (CCC1865)

Just as sinphobia impacts the political landscape, so too the disease impacts teachers, and what can and cannot be taught in school.  Sinphobia is what gives license to teachers to furnish impure sex “education” to students, but blocks teachers from teaching truths about sin.  If we could but cure ourselves of our sinphobia, we would be free in the classroom and elsewhere to declare the truth, as 11-year-old St. Maria Goretti so vehemently did to Alessandro Sereneli “It is a sin.  God does not want it!”  So how can sinphobia be cured?  Here are three steps we can take.

First, there is a lovely Lady in Heaven who had no problem talking about sin, even to young children.  In 1917, our Blessed Mother showed the children of Fatima a vision of hell, with souls falling into it for their sins, most especially their sins of the flesh. A big to-do was made of it all where our Lady promised a miracle on October 13^th, 1917.   On this day the “Miracle of the Sun”  was witnessed by a crowd of 70,000 including non-believers.  It was documented by a secular press.  Heaven tried hard to get our attention at Fatima.  Are we listening?

We can listen to the Fatima message and do what Our Lady asked of us there (pray the Rosary, establish a devotion to her Immaculate Heart, ask pardon for our signs and stop offending God).  Or we can go on lamenting the evils of this world, and ignoring our Lady and the few simple things she asked—the few things she said would bring peace to the world!  She promised that in the end her “Immaculate Heart will triumph.”  If we do what our Lady asked of us, she will bring peace to the world, first by bringing peace to our souls.  She will help us see the truth about sin, and speak this truth as well.

Secondly, we can listen not only to our Heavenly Mother but to our Holy Mother Church, and her teachings.  Here we’ll learn that if we want to make it to our final home in heaven and be more like God, then sin is simply not the way to go.  The Catechism tells us how sin robs us of our resemblance to God (CCC 705), how some sins are mortal (CCC 1855) and some sins “cry out to heaven” (CCC 1867).  There are capital sins which we really want to avoid as they engender other sins.  The capital sins are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth. (CCC1866)   Scripture teaches:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal.5:19-21)…  Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10)

Finally, we can ask God through prayer to show us our sins.  We can trust He will be more than happy to answer that prayer.  We may not like the answer.  But if we honestly pray, then we can trust He will honestly answer.  Just as we can trust that He, who loves us infinitely more than anyone, would like infinitely more than anyone, to see us at last in full recovery from our sinphobia—and living in Truth.

Living will?

I slowly shake my head no.

Do Not resuscitate order?

My head keeps shaking no.  The marketing manager sits back and tries to hide a startled look.  Exasperated, she asks:

Power of attorney?

I assure her that both my sister and I have full power of attorney, and she seems to relax at that.

This was the verbal exchange that occurred while signing the paperwork for my father’s admission to a rehabilitation center, which was needed after yet another hospitalization.  My 83-year-old father has dementia.  He can remember things that happened a lifetime ago like it was yesterday, but he often can’t remember yesterday at all.   A little while ago he had another “episode” that landed him in the hospital, somewhat further confused.

When first admitted to the hospital, he could not remember what had happened.  I reminded him that “you were at your assisted living home and were bowling and became dizzy, and then couldn’t move your legs.  The ambulance took you to the hospital.” A far away and distant look came over him and he said “I don’t remember.”  “You were bowling dad,” I reminded him, trying to trigger his memory.  My father always had a competitive streak.  After a long pause, he got to the heart of the matter and piped up “Did I win?”

At the hospital he retold stories of his past.  His language was garbled.  My father can’t always use accurate words to tell a story.  We don’t always know what he is saying.  But he seems to know what he is saying.  And often that is enough.  We listened with rapt attention, as he wove a marathon of disconnected stories of his past together, with his hands flailing and his words flying.  When it was all over, with a sudden twinkle in his eyes, he sat back with a smile and said: “Oh, that was fun!”

My father, for almost all of his life, was an athlete.  But when walking with him now, his spine is bent forward and I keep thinking that he is going to topple over.  I keep one hand on his frail elbow and hold my other hand in his.   He’ll tell me “I really am okay to walk on my own you know.” But his actions betray the words he speaks, as his hand clutches onto mine even more tightly.

My father needs this time in life.  And we, his children, need it too.  We need to glimpse into his past days, as he journeys backward.  We need to show him love, as best as we can.  We need to offer up our prayers for him. This time is useful.  It is valuable.  For everything there is a season, and this winter season of my father’s life is part of what will help guide his soul into eternity.

Dad, through his dementia is working out his salvation.  He isn’t doing that the way his children wanted him to do it.  He isn’t doing that the way he wanted to do it.  He is doing it the way God has deemed that he must do it.  “…unless you become like little children, you will not ender the Kingdom of Heaven.”  (Matt: 18:3) With each passing month, my father grows more humble and more childlike, more dependent and more trusting and I do not doubt, closer to our Lord and to Heaven.

It is hard to authorize living wills and Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders in advance because every medical situation is different, as is every patient.  Each situation needs to be judged at the time by a loving family, in consultation with a trusted priest.  It can be imprudent for one to prematurely judge a medical condition.  It’s also a way to end up dead before one’s time.  And we want our dad here for as long as God allows.

Dementia is a process of detachment.  Those afflicted with it gradually lose touch with everything and everyone around them.  For people with dementia, it seems at times that there is nothing to hold onto—except God.  But that’s the One the dying need to cling to most.

It is untrue that when life grows difficult or weary, or when one’s mind begins to fail, that life stops having any meaning.  It is precisely at these times that life may begin to gather moments that are sweet.  It is precisely at these times, when the body and the mind begin to fail, that life may take on its greatest meaning for the soul. This season of life is of great value not just for the soul, but for the family, and to our Lord.  Its impact will carry into all eternity.  We are quite wise not to cut it short.

I was thus flabbergasted at this wedding Mass when many of these folks walked up to receive our Lord in Holy Communion.  Redemptionis Sacramentum (RS), Rome’s document on liturgical abuse, said the following about pastoral correction of this particular abuse:

“[I]t sometimes happens that Christ’s faithful approach the altar as a group indiscriminately.  It pertains to the Pastors prudently and firmly to correct such an abuse” (RS 83)

“Furthermore when Holy Mass is celebrated for a large crowd… care should be taken lest out of ignorance non-Catholics or even non-Christians come forward for Holy Communion, without taking into account the Church’s Magisterium in matters pertaining to doctrine and discipline.  It is the duty of Pastors at an opportune moment to inform those present of the authenticity and the discipline that are strictly to be observed”  (RS 84).

But RS also stated that “everyone” (not just priests and religious) had to do what was in their power to correct abuse, and described this as a “serious duty.”   And sometimes, when it comes to liturgical abuse, it is precisely this duty that gets me feeling queasy:

“[L]et everyone do all that is in their power to ensure that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be protected from any and every irreverence or distortion and that all abuses be thoroughly corrected.  This is a most serious duty incumbent upon each and everyone, and all are bound to carry it out without favoritism”  (RS 183, emp. mine).

The problem with directives from Rome on liturgical abuse is that so often these directives are treated like a communicable disease.  We don’t like to go near them, let alone think about or embrace them.  There are times I think the word “infinite” was invented to describe the number of excuses we Catholics can conjure up for not doing the often simple things that God, through Rome, asks us to do for our own good.

As I made my way up to Communion at the nuptial Mass on that day, my thoughts weren’t holy.  What was running through my mind went something like this… Oh Father, I thank you that I am not like those who are receiving you so unworthily.  Why I thank you Father that I’m a real Catholic. My prayer was like that of the Pharisee in Luke 18 who prayed “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector…”

Less than five days later, I found myself at an out-of-town Catholic funeral Mass.  Once again it was apparent I was attending Mass with a group of non-Catholics or fallen away Catholics.  But this situation at Communion was very different from what had happened at the wedding.  Just prior to Communion the priest celebrating the funeral Mass, clearly making note of who was in the pews, slowly stepped forward to make the following gentle announcement “For those of you who have properly prepared yourselves, we will be distributing Communion now.”   His slow and deliberate emphasis on the word “prepared” stopped me in my tracks.

“Prepared yourself?”  Had I “properly prepared” myself for Communion?  Yes, I went to confession regularly.  Yes, I was at Mass every Sunday.  Yes, I said my pre-Mass prayers… but did that mean I was “prepared” to receive our Lord with His full body, blood, soul and divinity?  Something about the way the priest said what he said made me gulp.  My prayer suddenly changed from that of the Pharisee to that of the tax collector in Luke 18 who stood at a distance, beat his breast and said “God have mercy on me, a sinner!”

The words of the priest did more than sting my soul.  They obviously touched the non-practicing Catholics and non-Catholics in the pews.  Unlike the group in the pews at the wedding, many of those at the funeral Mass refrained from Communion.

After hesitating and vowing to do a better job of “preparing” myself in the future, I did eventually make my way up for Communion.  My prideful prayer of “thank you that I am not like these other sinners…” had been transformed to one of true thanksgiving.  Looking over this sea of sitting heads, I pondered “There but for the grace of God go I.”  How blessed I was to know and have the gift of the Eucharist in my life.  I offered my Communion for the soul of the deceased but I also said a quick prayer that one day each one of us would come to know and love the great gift of the Eucharist in our lives.

Once liturgical abuse has started, it is not an easy thing to stop.  It becomes like a bad habit.  And bad habits can be hard to break. “In some places the perpetration of liturgical abuse has become almost habitual…” (RS 3).  Rome has written volumes about liturgical abuse to wake us and shake us up.  On several occasions, Rome has also spoken.

On October 26, 2006, Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, spoke up again and “decried” liturgical abuse.  He reminded us that “the sacred liturgy is not a domain in which free exploration reigns…” He spoke out against “…the undo place given to spontaneity, or creativity, or perhaps a false idea of liberty…”

As a local church, do we really think we can find “unity” with one another while we proceed to separate ourselves from Rome and the Mass as Rome desires it be celebrated?  Without union with Rome, what kind of “unity” do we really have?  Can it truly be a unity that lasts?  Entire groups unwittingly causing scandal to the church by indiscrimately approaching Holy Communion is not new and doesn’t just happen at Masses for weddings and funerals.  It happens at Masses for Christmas and Easter as well.  Many of us know this first hand.   How and when did it become “normal” for entire groups to indiscriminately approach Holy Communion?  Did it begin with a desire not to “offend?”

By his simple but choice words, the humble priest at the funeral Mass offended no one.  He elevated the mystery of the Eucharist by gently reminding us that the Eucharist is not for anyone in any situation but only for those who have taken the proper steps to prepare themselves for it.  He touched the heart of at least one Catholic mother, made her thankful, and reminded her that this mystery, which we refer to as the “source and summit” of our lives, is so great that there isn’t one of us who cannot do more in the way of pre-Communion preparation.  Obedience naturally begets obedience.  Obedience also begets grace.  In his obedience to Rome, this priest became, albeit unwittingly, a conduit of grace for me and for others.

And that is precisely what priestly obedience to Rome does.  In a mystical way, priestly obedience creates an intangible but none-the-less real conduit of grace that unites us to Rome and to one another.   Priestly obedience sanctifies us all.

It was loaded, among its multiplicity of nasty ingredients, with partially-hydrogenated oil. This stuff can kill you—no kidding. Despite its presence in the supermarket (a place where one might reasonably expect to purchase food), these oils may not be food at all. Webster’s defines food as “material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth… and to furnish energy.”

Hydrogenated oils do just the opposite of what authentic “food” oils do. They sap us of energy rather than furnish us with it. And the creepy thing is that hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils have been packed into almost every processed food, from bread crumbs to frozen chicken fingers. Just mosey on over to your local school, and take a look at the labels on the packages of the “snacks” in the vending machines. It’s likely that most of these “snacks” are packed with hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.

So what does this have to do with our faith? Our bodies may be “Temples of the Holy Spirit,” but these temples are mortal. If the food we are eating destroys these temples, then the jig is up. There is only one chance to use our temples the best we are able to do God’s will.

Our bodies do need oil—just as much as our cars do. But God made our bodies to need a particular kind of oil. Hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils are not these oils. These latter oils don’t occur naturally in nature, but are man-made. They are heated in a way that causes a kooky change in their molecular structure, making them more solid, and less likely to spoil.

A can of vegetable shortening once sat in the back of my kitchen cabinet for a few eons, until I finally stumbled upon it. The stuff still looked good as new. That’s hydrogenation at work.

Changed (hydrogenated) oils—also known as trans-fats—excel at keeping food from going bad. But they also excel at making unsuspecting people sick. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, trans-fats have been linked to stroke, diabetes, heart disease, chronic conditions and inflammation. According to U.S. News and World Report, inflammation itself has been linked to cancer, depression and to Alzheimer’s.

Looking at what now passes for food in America, it’s hard not to see traces of a particular type of sin called greed. Costs go down when shelf life goes up. And that means more profit, independent of the physical damage done to human beings. It’s disturbing that hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils were ever allowed into foods and onto supermarket shelves. Given recent research, it is even more disturbing that the government permits them to stay there.

These oils may be financially good for food manufacturers. The food sits there practically forever, and never goes bad. But they are bad for humans. Perhaps the government’s logic is that what’s good for food manufacturers must be good for us too! Interestingly, this is the same government that deems itself worthy to take over “health” care. The truth is that some of what has been permitted to sit on our supermarket shelves does to the body exactly what sin does to the soul—destroys it.

American health care costs could quickly be cut by knocking this stuff off the supermarket shelves. Harvard researchers have concluded that simply eliminating trans-fats from food in this country could prevent up to 1 in 5 heart attacks. Most European countries have either banned these bad oils, or are making plans to do so. I still wince when I think I ever fed them to my family.

Hence forth, we’re declaring our house a hydrogenated oil free zone! Olive oil and flax seed oil here we come! Bring on the good omega 3 oil foods like salmon and walnuts!

So what do we cover our cakes with now? Honestly, I do not know. Maybe we’ll try home-made whipped cream with fresh strawberries like my grandmother once did.

What I do know is that, as good stewards, we are called by God to protect the multiple “Temples” that house the Holy Spirit in our families. And so I will begin with more vigor to face the challenge of fighting the evil stuff in the food on the supermarket shelves, just as I face the challenge of fighting the evil stuff sitting on the magazine racks each time I check-out. And, from this day forward, I’ll do all I can to keep the likes of hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils out of my home. Thank goodness, there will no longer be a place in my pantry for them.

My friend is part of a Catholic “prayer shawl club.”  They make shawls for the suffering, the sick and the grieving and with each row, they say a new prayer for the person for whom the shawl is being made.  This person is given the shawl, with a little note, and they can literally “wrap” themselves in prayer.

Both these efforts are examples of how God comes into the service that we do for Him.  It is love for Christ that motivates these efforts.  In all Catholic service, He ought to be with us in our starting, our ending and everything in between.

Mother Teresa got that right.  This tiny woman did great things for God.  God’s will was her motivation.  But she never proceeded without prayer.  For each day of daily service, there were four hours of prayer.

In Catholic service, we ought to be like Mother Teresa.  It’s true that most of us can’t stop our day to pray four hours a day.  But prayer should be part of everything we do.  Pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us.  Sadly, very good Catholics can get very busy doing very good things, but somehow leave God and prayer out.  The concern with this is that after a while, one starts to wonder who one is working for.  Once that’s forgotten, discouragement can begin to loom over the horizon of our difficulty; and pride over the horizon of our success.  It is as easy to start thinking thoughts like “This will never work” as it is to say “look at me and how much I accomplished!”  Note the key word “I.”  In truth, none of us can do anything without God’s help.  Christ said: “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) 

Whether in the local soup kitchen, or in the home, we should see Christ in those we serve.  We see Christ in the suffering and needy, and that is what motivates our reaching out to those who suffer or are in need.  And it is much easier to see Christ in the suffering when we attach our corporal works to spiritual ones.  Praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or a Rosary, a novena, or intercessory prayer before the Blessed Sacrament for those whom we serve, or simply offering a little prayer toward the saints in heaven as we serve, can help bring the richness of our Catholic heritage to our service, draw us closer to those we serve and draw us closer to God as well.  When packing food baskets for the needy this thanksgiving or wrapping gifts for them this Christmas, will we be praying for them too?

Making rosaries is one way to serve the church and Our Lady.  One woman I know prays for those who will receive the Rosaries she makes.  Some teach the poor to make Rosaries, which many Catholics happily purchase.  It is good to share the “15 promises of our Lady to those who pray the Rosary” with those taught to make Our Lady’s Rosaries, and with others too.

The poor, needy and suffering are often closest to our Lord.  We can humbly ask those we serve to pray for us.  Without prayer, no matter what we do, or what progress we may seem at some points to be making, sooner or later we are bound to mess things up.  And once we Catholics start messing up in service, we also start messing with the purity and the sanctification of the Catholic Church.  “… Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you,” Mathew 6:33 reminds us.

Service is not always easy.  It may sometimes be our cross.  But even when it is a cross, it can still be good.  Just as the crucifixion lead to the resurrection, so the little crosses we endure in service ought ultimately to lead towards the sanctification of our own soul, and thus the sanctification of the Catholic Church.

Thy will be done Father.  Guide me as I serve.  Without You, I can do nothing.  But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Home education is a blessing not only for the child but for the entire family.  Like the institutional school system, homeschooling is not a perfect option.  Unlike the school system, homeschooling provides children time to develop hobbies and talents.  Our children have, for different reasons been in public, Catholic and Christian schools.  But nothing freed our time to live our faith and lives like our five years of homeschooling.  Our homeschooling days started early with daily Mass and breakfast.  The books were open by 8:00 a.m., well before the school buses in town had picked up the local children to get them to their respective schools.

Children in a non-homeschooling environment can spend hours away from home, then return home with still more hours of homework.   Children educated in the home at the elementary school level can usually move through all their subjects in 3-4 hours, leaving plenty of time for reading, ballet, horseback riding, piano and art lessons as well as time for fun and simple uninterrupted play with siblings.  Many homeschoolers meet regularly with a homeschooling group, and play during the week with their friends.

Children educated in the home have time to read.  Children educated in institutional schools may be given prizes; they may be coaxed by the school to read in a multitude of ways.  But the rat race of a busy life has seized hold of many of them.  Days at school are often filled with little time to savor reading for the sheer delight of it.  The homework and school books loaded into their backpacks and onto their young frames at the end of each day is enough to bend some of their young spines and topple some of them over.   Couple this homework with a few after school activities and the time of most children is often monopolized before and after dinner until bedtime arrives.  This can transform reading for fun into a near impossibility.

Some authorities neither recognize nor appreciate the strides homeschooled parents have made with their children.  On an international level, efforts are being made to control and undermine parental authority in the home.  Since the Catholic faith is primarily transmitted to the children through the parents, these efforts undermine our faith.  On a global level, the UN has drafted a treaty (Convention on the Rights of the Child) that allows children the right to “choose” their own religion, undermining the right of the Catholic parent (homeschooled or not) to educate children in the faith.  Branching off from this treaty, the British government has approved a plan, which seeks direct control over homeschoolers, grants authorities access to the home of homeschoolers, and an astounding “right to speak to each child alone.”

The UN treaty grants children a right to “leisure.”  How ironic that governments, who systematically rob school children of much needed rest and family time, would suddenly seek to control whether children are getting the very thing that authorities all along have seemed to care so little about.

As indicated in a Time Magazine article , the amount of time that 9-to11-year-olds spent on homework has increased over the years to more than 3.5 hours a week, stressing out both children and parents.  Can someone explain why an 11-year-old, after 7 hours at school, must come home with still more homework when that same 11-year old can be homeschooled in less than four?  Despite working fewer hours, children who are educated in the home regularly score higher than public schooled children in virtually every academic area.

If homeschooled students spend less time working, but accomplish more, what are children in modern schools doing all day?

In the modern school of today, entertainment videos are sometimes shown when the children get antsy or the teacher has had enough.  There may be some very dedicated teachers in the classroom, but some children have no respect, forcing teachers to use class time to reprimand.

Couple that discipline problem with parties of every imaginable sort.  This may include (dependent on age) celebrating the birthday of every child, (perhaps with cupcakes and cookies, and sometimes with teeth-rotting, blood-sugar crashing soda).  Some schools offer a 100-day school party, a “Halloween” party, a ‘winter party,” a class “tea,” a valentines party, a class cruise, a class barbecue, a class “pool” party, and an end of school party.  The school party possibilities are endless and seem to keep growing.  Parents might not mind the parties so much, if it didn’t mean that the work that was not done in school during the day would now need to be done at home, ensuring that there would be no family time, let alone “parties” once the children arrived home at the end of an already long day.

Then there are immodest afterschool dances and the nonsense classes.  This includes co-ed sex education classes that have gone goofy.  In entering this domain, schools have gone to a place where they had no right to be.  History is showing that conducting co-ed sex education in an academic environment has done little more, over recent decades, than shred the natural defenses between boys and girls, and lead otherwise innocent children away from parental family values and straight into promiscuity and STDs.

Could it be that authorities, rather than looking at children educated in the home and saying “What are we doing wrong and how can we help you?” have begun to see the Christian values instilled in many homeschooled children as a threat to the liberal views that institutional education often imparts?  Studies show that the number one reason for home education is to “provide religious or moral instruction.”  (National Catholic Register Volume 85, No. 26, 2009) Catholic parents have a God-given right to educate their children in the faith.  Could liberal government schools, as they morph ever-further into anti-God institutions, have some vested interest in denying parents this God-given right? Might it be that shaping the opinions of the children is what this is really about?

“The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.  The right and duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inaliable.”  (2221)

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of  their children.  They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity and disinterested service are the rule.  The home is well suited for education in the virtues… (CCC 2223)

As parents, we are the first heralds of the faith to our children, and it is our right to choose a school for them.  It is the duty of public authorities to ensure this right is protected:

Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the “first heralds’ for their children. (2225)

Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earliest years.  (2226).   As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions.  This right is fundamental.  As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators.  Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.  (222)

Parenting is no picnic these days.  Given the odds that, at every turn, some evil is conspiring against the family, were it not for God’s grace, one might wonder how any Catholic family could survive at all in the twisted culture of today.  Now we can add to the list of family attackers, the United Nations.

The United Nations has come up with a treaty called the “Convention on the Rights of the Child” (CNC) with binding implications in the United States.  This treaty robs Catholic parents of their “right and responsibility” to educate their children in the faith. In lieu of enabling parents to pass their faith onto their children, “children would be granted authority by the state to choose their own religion…”  (Parental Rights.org)  If it is our job as Catholic parents to educate our children in the Catholic faith, and if the UN treaty on the child blocks parents from doing their job, then is the treaty on the Rights of the Child an anti-parent treaty?

The right to educate our children in the faith is not the only right being denied to parents by the UN’s CNC.  There are 40 rights being granted to children in the CNC document, and the rights given to the children will sometimes undermine a parents right to parent.  One of the 40 rights is the right of a child not to be spanked.  In the UN’s world, when little Johnny mocks or torments his little brother, or talks back to his mother, Dad can no longer step in and give him a quick swat on the backside.  According to the CNC “reasonable spankings” are no longer permissible.  While disallowing reasonable spankings, the UN seems intent on furthering the activation of childhood sexuality.  The UN would grant children the right to “reproductive health information,” even against parental wishes.  Every child would be granted the “right” to an abortion.

What if parents, seeking to protect their children, deny them one of these UN-granted “rights”?  Then “a child’s ‘right to be heard’ would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parent decision with which the child disagreed.”   (Parental Rights.Org)

If the CNC treaty is ratified by the United States, it creates binding laws which supersede American laws.  Don’t be lured into thinking that ratifying this document in the United States would help children in other countries.  It would not.  The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has long warned of the CNC treaty implications, and to see why one can look at what the British government has already done to homeschoolers with it.

Britain has taken steps to use the United Nation’s CNC stated need to balance the “rights of the parents with the rights of the children,” and approved a plan to at last gain control over homeschooling families who have chosen to raise their children in a way that British authorities do not like.   This plan grants authorities “the right of access to the home,” and the “right to speak to each child alone.”  What parent, (homeschooled or not) in their right mind, would permit a civil authority, and a most likely a perfect stranger, to speak to their child ALONE?  British homeschooling parents are understandably outraged.

Governmental authorities, smart though they may be, just don’t “get it.”  Most homeschooling parents are homeschooling because in one way or another (academically, morally, socially or spiritually) the school system has failed their children.  Many homeschoolers opt to homeschool out of desperation, and then find that homeschooling unites the family, permits the child to excel, and brings peace to the home.  Isn’t it ironic that authorities, who have so failed these children in so many ways for so long, would now seek to control in the home that which they could not themselves accomplish in the institutional school itself?

The UN Treaty on the rights of the child first took effect in 1990.  Although the Clinton administration did sign the treaty, it was at that time opposed by US Senators and thus never submitted to the Senate for approval.   It is true that the treaty was not approved during the Bush administration, however President Obama’s administration is now “reviving efforts to have the United States sign…”  (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090622/ap_on_re_us/un_un_children_s_rights).  Because this treaty threatens the right of parents to parent their own children, and the right of parent’s to pass on their faith, parents have a responsibility to oppose this treaty and to contact their Senators to indicate their indignation.  Contact information for your Senator can be found at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml.

Other Links:

UN Protocol Used to Regulate Homeschoolers (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=101371)

Parental Rights.org (http://www.parentalrights.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={B56D7393-E583-4658-85E6-C1974B1A57F8}

I grew up on a long, steep street called Watchung Avenue.  The street was named Watchung because the Indians who once settled in the area referred to the mountains there as “Wach Unks” which meant “high hills.”  In our town, back in the olden days, when you named a street something, if you looked hard enough you could find some meaning behind the name.

After getting married, we lived on a street in another town.  Our home was one of many quickly built to make fast cash.  The street we lived on was called Yellowstone Lane.  There was not one yellow stone on it.  The entire area was like that.  There was an Appletree Lane with no apple trees and a Blueberry Path with no blueberries to be seen, let alone picked and eaten.  The street named Snowdrift Lane was flat as a board and no more likely to experience a snowdrift than any other street around.

These things may seem to be of no great importance.  But when it comes to colleges, parents want to know that if a college calls itself “Catholic,” then this is what it truly is.  This is because sending a student off to colleges claiming to be Catholic, but having no Catholic backbone, might only confuse the student and eventually lead to their spiritual injury or even spiritual death.  In the midst of such confusion, which is now rampant at many Catholic colleges in this country, it is refreshing to note that some Catholic colleges, openly loyal to the teachings of the Catholic Church, seem to be thriving.  One such college is Christendom College in Virginia.

It’s almost impossible not to be emboldened by the faculty and students at Christendom College.  Strong in faith, the students graduate with seemingly unshakeable roots.  This is no accident.  Christendom students are required to take particular core courses designed to help them distinguish truth from error.  As its web-site explains:

Christendom College’s exploration of truth begins with a systematic exposition of Catholic doctrine in the freshman year, followed by courses in Sacred Scripture, moral theology and apologetics, enabling the student both to defend the faith and to apply it to his own life…

An indispensable element in any sound education is learning to distinguish truth from error or distortion, and then to communicate truth accurately, effectively and convincingly to others…

The fidelity of Christendom College to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church makes it a light that shines only brighter in this present darkness.  And it is precisely this fidelity that lies at the root of the faithfulness and confidence of its graduates.  These graduates understand how to decipher truth and thus are unconfused.  Christendom College demonstrates that when one truly lives the Catholic faith, this faith helps one to live better, holier, more peaceful and joyful lives.

In Christendom’s most recent newslsetter, it announced the honoring, at its upcoming graduation weekend, of Father Frank Pavone with its Pro Deo et Patria Medal for Distinguished Service to God and Country.  Father Pavone has worked tirelessly to defend the unborn, and is the National Director of Priests for Life.  He lives his Catholic calling in such a heroic fashion that when one gets discouraged by the abortion evils that are swallowing our country, just thinking of his dedication is enough to keep you going.  And that’s why it makes sense to honor him.

Christendom College has squelched confusion about graduation speakers by speaking out in truth, and stating that:

In recent years, a number of Catholic colleges and universities have gotten into hot water with their constituents and the local hierarchy for the people they invited to either deliver the commencement address or receive an award from the institution.  Most recently, The University of Notre Dame is receiving a lot of attention for its decision to invite President Barack Obama to be its commencement speaker and to award him with an honorary doctorate.  The uproar comes from the fact that President Obama’s policies regarding the sanctity of human life go against the Catholic Church’s teachings on these matters, particularly in respect to embryonic stem cell research and abortion.

“Notre Dame, the university named after ‘Our Lady,’ is honoring one of the world’s most pro-abortion leaders on May 17 while Christendom College will be honoring one of the world’s most pro-life leaders on May 16.  I wonder which one Our Lady is happy with?” questions Tom McFadden… (Director of Admissions and Public Relations)

”Commencement ceremonies across the country are meant to be times of celebration for the various institutions, and a time to honor individuals from whom we want our graduates to learn and grow as young Catholics entering today’s increasingly secularized society,” says Christendom College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell. “To think that, as a Catholic college, we could invite someone who promotes policies and values that are contrary to basic human truths that can be known by the natural light of reason and are contrary to the fundamental right to life would be a violation of the noble mission of Catholic higher education.”  (http://www.christendom.edu/news/2009/03-30-graduation.shtml)

For their faithfulness, kudos should go to Christendom College.